Taking Chances
by DreamerChild88
Summary: Shannon has had her heart broken before but she is willing to take a chance when Spencer Reid asks her on a date. Will she and Spencer find happiness together or will they end up picking up the pieces of their broken hearts? The next story in my 'Shannon Grace' universe.
1. First Date

Taking Chances

Chapter 1 First Date

Disclaimer: CBS owns Criminal Minds. I only own Shannon and Julia, my OC's. However, my birthday is tomorrow and Spencer is definitely on my birthday list. ;)

Shannon Rossi flipped through her closet, trying to figure out what to wear on her date with Spencer. He had asked her out two days ago at her father's 4th of July barbeque. Spencer hadn't told her where they were going, which she found slightly frustrating.

'_How am I supposed to know what to wear if you won't tell me where you're taking me,'_ she had asked him yesterday in a text message.

'_Choose something dressy but casual. Something like the dress you wore to JJ and Will's wedding,_' he replied.

Shannon laughed; she was surprised that Spencer could remember the dress she wore to JJ and Will's wedding nearly two months ago. In her experience, most guys didn't remember outfits. Then again, Spencer wasn't most guys. Shannon knew exactly which dress he was talking about. The dress she had worn to JJ and Will's wedding was a form fitting dark purple strapless dress; it was the bridesmaid dress she had worn in her cousin Alyssa's wedding two years ago.

'Dressy but casual' Shannon thought to herself as she browsed through her closet again. At the back of the closet, she found two dresses that she hadn't seen before. The first dress was a green sleeveless dress that flowed to her knees. The second dress was an aqua blue strapless chiffon dress. This dress was also knee length and had chiffon cascading from the waist.

"Mama someone is here. The doorbell is ringing!" Julia exclaimed, running into her mother's room.

"That is probably Miss JJ," Shannon told her daughter. "Let's go downstairs and see." After moving to DC, Shannon had purchased the three bedroom bungalow from Morgan. It was small, but it was the perfect size for her and Julia.

After reaching the front door, Shannon had to remind Julia that she wasn't allowed to open the door until Shannon had looked to see who was outside. Seeing JJ at the door, she gave Julia permission to open the door.

"Hi Miss JJ," Julia greeted the blonde profiler.

"Hi Julia, Shannon," JJ replied.

"JJ thank goodness you are here. I need your help deciding what to wear," Shannon said.

"I help too mama?" Julia asked as they walked upstairs.

"Sure baby, you can help too," Shannon responded. "I have these two dresses, but I'm not sure which one to wear."

"Why don't you try them on?" JJ suggested.

"Okay," Shannon took both dresses into her en-suite bathroom. She modeled the green one first, followed by the blue dress.

"I think you should wear the blue one. It really makes your eyes stand out," Shannon had her father's dark brown hair but she had gotten her fair skin and hazel eyes from her mother.

"The blue dress it is then," Shannon decided. Glancing at the clock, Shannon gasped. "Is it really 5:45pm already? Spencer is supposed to be here at 7pm."

"That means he'll be here between 6:30 and 6:45pm. Spencer is always early," JJ informed her. "Unless you need any more help, I'm going to get Julia and go."

"Nah, I don't need any more help. I have everything else figured out," she said. "Julia baby, give mama a hug and a kiss. You're going to leave with Miss JJ and go play with Henry for a while."

"Yay!" Julia cheered, excited and the prospect of seeing her friend. She gave her mama a hug and kiss before leaving with Miss JJ.

After JJ and Julia lefty, Shannon continued getting ready for her date. She retouched her make-up, applying a dark purple eye shadow in place of the gold she had worn to work that day. She used her curling iron to add more curls to her wavy brown hair. She grabbed a pair of silver studs and a multi-color beaded bracelet from her jewelry box. She found a short sleeve white shrug top and a pair of strappy wedge sandals to pair with the dress.

"Done," she said to herself. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was now 6:25pm. According to JJ, Spencer would be here in the next twenty minutes. She had nothing to do but wait for Spencer to arrive. She tried sitting on the couch and waiting, but she was too antsy to just sit. Instead she busied herself with straightening the lower level of the house. Just as she put the last dish in the dishwasher, the doorbell rang. She glanced through the peephole and as expected, found Spencer on the other side of the door.

"Hi, come in," Shannon said as she opened the door for Spencer.

"This is for you," Spencer said, handing her a single pink gerbera daisy.

"It's beautiful. Thank you!" Shannon exclaimed. "Let me find a vase to put it in." Shannon couldn't find a vase, so she put the flower and some water in an empty Mason jar.

"You look really pretty tonight," Spencer complimented as he opened the passenger side door of his car for Shannon. Shannon normally wore jeans or khakis for work, but she looked exceptionally beautiful in the dress she had chosen.

"Thanks. You look great too," she responded. Spencer was dressed in khaki pants, a light purple dress shirt and grey Converse high tops. He looked like he was dressed for work, but Shannon found that Spencer looked very attractive.

They chatted as Spencer drove them through DC. "Are you going to tell me where we're going?" she asked.

"No, I am not. You will see where we are going when we get there," he told her.

"I suppose," Shannon sighed. She was curious and impatient, and she couldn't wait to see where he was taking them.

"Are you always this impatient when it comes to surprises?" Spencer wanted to know. Shannon was always so patient with Julia, so he was surprised to see her impatient side.

"Normally, it often irritated my mom when I was a child. She always used to say 'I hope Julia acts just like you as she gets older,'" Shannon admitted.

Spencer noted Shannon's use of past tense when referring to her mom, but decided to file it away for a later conversation. "Does Julia act exactly like you?" he inquired.

"She doesn't act exactly like me, although she does have some of my personality. I can see similarities between Julia and her father too," she explained.

"Do you talk to her father often?" he asked. Shannon hadn't mentioned Julia's father before and Spencer wondered about their relationship.

"I haven't talked to Andrew since I told him that I was pregnant with Julia. He decided that he didn't want to be part of our lives." Shannon stated.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know," Spencer responded.

"Don't be sorry. Like you said, you didn't know. Besides, Julia is an amazing little girl but Andrew will never know that because he chose to walk away." Shannon was no longer bothered by the fact that Andrew had chosen to walk out of their lives. She had let go of that hurt and instead focused on raising her daughter.

"That is true," Spencer agreed. He admired Shannon's ability to let go of the hurt. It was something that Spencer still struggled with in regard to his own father's decision to leave him and his mother years ago.

"We are here," Spencer told her as he pulled into the parking lot of Fisherman's Wharf, a popular seafood restaurant in DC. Before choosing a restaurant, Spencer had asked Shannon about her food preferences. Shannon had told him that she wasn't picky; there were only a few foods that she didn't like. He had also asked about food allergies, knowing that fish and shellfish were two of the eight items that accounted for 90% of all food allergies.

Spencer held the door open and allowed Shannon to enter the restaurant in front of him.

"Reservations for Reid," he told the hostess.

"We'll have your table ready in just a few minutes Mr. Reid," the hostess replied.

Spencer didn't bother to inform the hostess that he was Dr. not Mr. Reid. Tonight he wasn't Dr. Reid, the genius FBI profiler; he was just a man on a date with a beautiful woman. Spencer and Shannon chatted as they waited for their table. The conversation continued as they perused the menu, each deciding what they wanted to eat.

"So," Shannon began as their meals arrived, "You grew up in Vegas. What was your favorite memory as a child?"

Spencer stopped to think. Growing up as a child prodigy with a schizophrenic mother and an absentee father wasn't exactly a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting. "My mom was a professor of 15th century literature and she would always read to me. She didn't read typical children's stories either. I was probably the only five year-old who liked _Dante's Inferno_."

"Probably," Shannon responded. "Julia and I are reading the _Little House on the Prairie_ series and she loves those books. We read a chapter or two each night before bed."

"That sounds like a more typical story for a child. What was your favorite childhood memory?" Spencer asked.

Shannon's childhood hadn't been perfect but she still had many happy memories. "Like you, I am an only child of divorced parents. My mom's sister and her husband, my Aunt Laura and Uncle Ted, had five kids. My cousin Alyssa is only four months older than me; she and I were best friends as kids. Most of my happiest memories involved spending time with Alyssa and my other cousins."

"Both my parents were only children, so I do not have any aunts, uncles, or cousins. As a child I often wanted a bigger family," Spencer replied.

"I'm glad I had my cousins. It made growing up far more exciting," Shannon told him. "Lys and I did almost everything together. We were in the same grade at school and we cheered together in junior high and high school. We also spent our teen years getting in trouble together. I can't count how many times we ended up grounded."

"What did you guys end up grounded for?"

"What didn't we end up grounded for might be an easier question to answer," Shannon said with a laugh. "We snuck out and broke curfew more times than I can count, although we were only grounded for the handful of time that our parents caught us. We also were grounded for underage drinking and smoking pot."

"How much of this did your dad know about?" Spencer wanted to know. He couldn't see Dave being thrilled with his teenaged daughter's antics, especially drinking and smoking pot.

"He knew about all of it. My mom called him every time I snuck out or broke curfew. She blamed most my teenage recklessness on him. He was pissed about the drinking and pot," Shannon told him.

"Can I get you guys anything else?" their waitress asked as she stopped at their table.

"Can I have our bill please?" Spencer requested. She returned a few minutes later with the bill. Shannon reached for her wallet, but Spencer shook his head.

"Dinner is my treat," he said, grabbing his own wallet from his pocket. After he paid for their meals, Spencer and Shannon walked back to his car.

Shannon wasn't sure where he was driving them, but he seemed to know so she watched out the window as they drove through DC. The sun was starting to set and many of the buildings were lit up. It wasn't New York, but she still loved the sight of DC at night. The conversation flowed as he drove. Only ten minutes after leaving the restaurant, Spencer pulled into a public parking garage in downtown DC.

"We have a short walk before we reach our next destination," Spencer told her, reaching for her hand as they walked.

Shannon knew that Spencer was rather touch-phobic so she was pleasantly surprised when he reached for her hand. She couldn't deny the butterflies that she was feeling at the moment. Shannon hadn't dated much after Julia was born and none of those dates had gone this well. She had put up walls around her heart after Andrew had shattered it, but she could feel those walls begin to crumble as she took this chance with Spencer.

"This is one of my favorite places in DC," Spencer said as they entered the small two-story building. "They have live music from local musicians every night."

"It looks like a unique place," Shannon replied as they walked across the main level. An eclectic collection of tables and chairs surrounded the coffee bar in the middle of the floor. Upstairs, there were more mismatched tables and chairs. It looked odd because nothing matched, but at the same time it still looked like everything belonged together. Near a wall of books, there was a couch and several chairs. In the far corner, a young woman was singing on a small stage.

Spencer found them an unoccupied table. They had a view of the stage, but were still far enough away that they could still have a quiet conversation. They ordered drinks; a Sprite for Spencer and a Diet Coke for Shannon. The pair talked about almost everything, their childhood and college days, the likes and dislikes of their careers and anything else they could think of.

Neither kept track of the time. Shannon yawned, which was Spencer's cue to glance at his watch. "I can't believe it's already 11pm. When do you have to get Julia from JJ's house?"

"I don't; JJ is going to drop her off back at our house at midnight. I should probably be home before they arrive though."

"That is a good idea," Spencer said as they left the coffeehouse and returned to his car. The DC traffic was light as he drove them back to Shannon's house.

"I had an amazing time tonight Spencer. Thank you," Shannon told him as they stood on her front porch.

"I had a wonderful time as well. When can I see you again?" he asked.

Next weekend, as long as you don't get a case that takes you out of town," she suggested.

"Okay, next weekend it is," he responded. He hesitated, he wanted to kiss her but he was unsure of how she would respond. They hadn't discussed physical boundaries at all, and he didn't want to push her into something she wasn't ready for.

Looking in her eyes and seeing her soft smile, Spencer leaned in and kissed her gently. Shannon responded by kissing him back. After a few seconds, Spencer pulled away.

"Goodnight Shannon," he said.

"Night Spencer," she replied as he stood next to his car. The butterflies she had felt earlier had multiplied when he kissed her. Sitting on the porch swing, she felt more like a sixteen year old school girl than a twenty five year old single mom. She replayed the night in her head, still lost in the daydream when JJ pulled into her driveway.

"Someone had a good night," JJ said with a smile as she walked up her friend's porch steps.

"I had an amazing night actually," Shannon replied. "Was Julia good?"

"Of course she was," JJ confirmed. "I'm glad you had a great time. Spencer is a little different, but he is a good man." JJ thought of Spencer as her younger brother and she knew that he had experienced his share of struggles. She simply wanted him to find the happiness that she had found with Will. JJ hadn't known Shannon very long, but the two women had already formed a close friendship. JJ loved her BAU family but she and Shannon had bonded because of their children; they were both young mothers raising children while juggling careers.

Saying goodnight to JJ, Shannon collected Julia from JJ's car and carried her daughter into the house. She put her sleeping daughter in her bed and went into her on room. Changing into her pajamas, she quickly fell asleep.

AN: Thanks for reading. I'm working on chapter 2 and I hope to have it posted by Saturday. Happy 4th of July to all my American readers. The 4th is my favorite holiday, mostly because it's my birthday!


	2. Scars

Taking Chances

Chapter 2 Scars

Spoiler Alert: "The Big Game" (2.14), "Revelations" (2.15), "The Instincts (4.6) and "Memoriam" (4.7)

Disclaimer: I only own my OC's, Shannon and Julia. Criminal Minds belongs to CBS and Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.

_"To open your heart to someone means exposing the scars of the past." Author unknown_

Spencer glanced down at Shannon, who was currently sprawled across her couch with her head resting on his chest. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders as they watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Shannon had insisted they watch it after Spencer told her that he had never watched any of the Harry Potter movies.

"So what did you think?" Shannon asked as the credits rolled.

"It was interesting, although I would rather be doing this," he replied as he bent down to kiss her. Shannon responded by kissing him back, turning to face him so they were more comfortable. He deepened the kiss, gently exploring Shannon's mouth with his tongue. Shannon could feel her body react to his kiss; her heart was racing, her breathing was shallow and her face was flushed. Spencer may have claimed that he had limited experience with women but he certainly knew what he was doing.

Spencer moved his hands down to Shannon's hips, playing with the hemline of her tank top as their make-out session heated up.

"Spencer, wait. We…we need to slow down," she whispered between kisses as she felt his fingertips brush across her bare abdomen.

Spencer pulled away from Shannon and sat up. He didn't want to push her any further than she was willing to go. "I am sorry Shannon," Spencer apologized while silently chastising himself for losing control.

"No need to apologize," Shannon replied. "There are still things you don't know about me and I can't let this get too far if you're just going to walk away."

"Talk to me please Shannon? I analyze behavior but I cannot read minds," Spencer said, reaching for Shannon's hand. "I know we have only gone on a couple of dates so far but I really like you. I can definitely see this, see us, going somewhere."

"What have I told you about Andrew, Julia's father?" she asked.

"You haven't said much, only that he walked out of your life before Julia was born," Spencer answered.

"I met Andrew at the end of my freshman year at NYU and we started dating the fall of our sophomore year. We had been dating for almost a year and a half when I found out I was pregnant. Andrew was furious when I told him; he wanted me to have an abortion because HE wasn't ready for the responsibility of having a child. I refused, so he told me I would be raising "it" on my own," Shannon explained.

Spencer had no idea what to say. Instead he gently squeezed her hand, his way of conveying support.

"I loved Andrew. I trusted him and he abandoned me and our baby. I can't describe how hurt, how betrayed I felt at the time," Shannon wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "I don't ever want to feel that kind of pain again. I also don't want to face the possibility of raising another child on my own."

Spencer saw that Shannon was crying and he used the pads of his thumbs to wipe away her tears. "Shannon, look at me please?" he requested.

She looked up at him as he took her hands and held them in his own. Looking into her eyes he said, "I really like you Shannon and this relationship is about more than just sex. You are worth more than sex. We can move at whatever pace makes you comfortable. I am willing to take the time, to do whatever it takes, to show you that you can trust me. And Shannon," he paused. "I would never abandon you, Julia and any child that we might have together." Spencer was too terrified of Dave to even think about hurting Shannon or Julia.

Shannon smiled. "I believe you Spencer." The truth was she did believe him. Shannon knew that his father leaving had caused Spencer a lot of pain and she couldn't see Spencer inflicting that heartache on his own child. Still, her past experience with Andrew made her cautious and she wasn't ready to completely jump off the edge with Spencer.

"Come here," he said, pulling her closer to him. He wrapped his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. They sat like that for a minute, neither of them saying anything.

Finally Spencer broke the silence, "You are not the only one who has scars from the past," he told her.

"Anything you wanna share?" she asked, giving him the option to say no.

"You already know that my parents are divorced but I never told you why," he began. "My mom is a paranoid schizophrenic. When I was four, a little boy in my neighborhood, Riley Jenkins, was raped and murdered by a local pedophile. My mother witnessed Riley's father killing the pedophile. After this, my mom's schizophrenia became progressively worse. My father left because he was unable to cope with her illness.

"Wow," was all that Shannon could say. His admission left her speechless. Her own parents had divorced when she was three, but for very different reasons. Her father worked long hours at the BAU and her mother hated that he was gone more than he was home. After the divorce, she and her mother had moved back to upstate New York.

"My father left without another word. It wasn't until a few years ago that I saw him for the first time in more than twenty years."

"It's never easy when parents get divorced is it?" Shannon asked. Their parents may have had very different reasons for not staying together but both Shannon and Spencer felt the effects of being raised in single parent homes.

"No it is not easy. Statistics prove that a two parent nuclear household is the best environment for children to be raised in," he replied. "There is something else that I want to tell you but I am not exactly sure where to start.

"The beginning normally works," she responded.

"It began in February 2007 with a case in Georgia. I was kidnapped and held hostage by an unsub who had a severe dissociative identity disorder," he started.

Dissociative identity disorder, that's multiple personalities right?" Shannon clarified.

"Yes. Tobias Henkel, the unsub that kidnapped me had two distinct personalities, Tobias and Raphael. Raphael tortured and beat me. Tobias gave me multiple injections of Dilaudid, a narcotic painkiller, to escape the pain inflicted by Raphael," Spencer gave her a shortened version of what had happened in Georgia. He didn't think that she needed to hear all the gory details of the abuse he had suffered, or that Raphael had forced him to choose which member of the team he would kill. "After Tobias was killed, I took the Dilaudid from him. I was addicted and I continued using for a while after returning from Georgia.

Shannon wordlessly grabbed his hand, showing him the same support that he had given her earlier.

"I quit using and started attending NA meetings. I have been sober since March 15, 2007; that is five years, four months and twenty six days," he looked at Shannon, expecting to see pity or disgust in her eyes. Instead he saw compassion and sympathy.

"Spencer that experience must have been horrible. I'm just glad that you survived," she told him.

"I almost did not survive. Raphael killed me but Tobias revived me. He saved my life."

Shannon was once again speechless. Impulsively, she hugged him. She hoped the gesture would convey all the words she couldn't seem to find. Spencer returned the hug, and for the second time that evening, they sat in silence.

"So," Shannon said a few minutes later. "You still have seven more Harry Potter movies to watch. Do you want to start the second one?"

"You want to start a two and a half hour movie at 12:05am?" Spencer asked after he glanced at his watch.

"Why not?" she responded. I doubt that you are going to going to sleep well tonight and Julia is at my dad's until tomorrow afternoon."

Shannon had a point, Spencer realized. After recounting his order with Henkel, sleep would be rather elusive. Any sleep he might get would be interrupted by nightmares. "Okay, let's watch the second movie," he agreed.

Shannon grabbed them each a pop from the fridge before starting the movie. As the opening credits began, she sat next to Spencer with her head resting on his shoulder. Spencer played with her hair as they watched the movie and Shannon could feel herself beginning to relax.

The next morning, Shannon was confused when she woke up alone in her own bed. The last thing she could remember was watching a movie with Spencer downstairs. Seeing a note on her bedside table, she reached out and grabbed the piece of paper. It was written in Spencer's neat scrawling handwriting.

Shannon

You fell asleep forty three minutes into the movie last night and I fell asleep sometime after that. I woke up to see the credits rolling and I carried you up here. Call me when you wake up.

Spencer

_"Don't let past relationships ruin your future happiness. Scars remind us of where we've been, not where we're going." Author unknown_

AN: Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read, review, favorite and alert these stories. I appreciate each and every one of you.

I really wanted to have this story posted on Saturday but Shannon and Spencer just would NOT cooperate. At one point I wanted to strangle both of them (you might be a writer if you want to inflict pain on fictional characters). Finally they got their act together and allowed me to write this chapter.

Also, I have a bunch of ideas for this series but I am definitely open to suggestions. If there is something you would like to see, just let me know and I will try my best to make it work.

xo, DreamerChild


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